Always Keep Paris In Mind
Hi there! Happy Wednesday and happy it's no longer -40 degrees day!! It's only about -10! I'm trying to make the best of an awful situation. Bare with me people. Anyway, today I have a book review for you. This book is different compared to others I've read and reviewed before because it's not a novel. It's a compilation of short stories and letters and chapters from books. They were all written by Americans (for the most part) and they were all about Paris. We all know about my Paris obsession so let's skip that part and get right to the book, shall we?
I loved this. It was refreshing from a regular novel but I don't think I would have loved it as much if it weren't about Paris or another place I love like Italy. This had much more meaning to me though because, unlike Italy, I've actually been to Paris so when they mentioned certain things, I understood. Dave Barry talked about how Americans were so easy to be picked out even when they tried so hard to pass as Parisians. His descriptions were hilarious. I loved reading Hemingway and his love for Paris even while ravenous. The people who were included in this book, the writers, loved Paris even after all the things they hated about Paris. Mark Twain went on and on about the things in Paris that not meet his expectations yet he left with a fondness for it.
What I Say
I loved this. It was refreshing from a regular novel but I don't think I would have loved it as much if it weren't about Paris or another place I love like Italy. This had much more meaning to me though because, unlike Italy, I've actually been to Paris so when they mentioned certain things, I understood. Dave Barry talked about how Americans were so easy to be picked out even when they tried so hard to pass as Parisians. His descriptions were hilarious. I loved reading Hemingway and his love for Paris even while ravenous. The people who were included in this book, the writers, loved Paris even after all the things they hated about Paris. Mark Twain went on and on about the things in Paris that not meet his expectations yet he left with a fondness for it.
This book was simply an escape from me. It was an escape to Paris through the experiences of others, most who are now dead. Their words brought me back. They made me laugh, they made me cry and the made me reminisce. I got angry at Parisians, I got angry at Americans, I got angry and the people who took advantage or you and of the authorities who judged you. But most of all, I remembered how much I loved a city that I probably won't see again for a while. But when I do, I'll bring this book (along with A Moveable Feast) and read it on the plane so I can remind myself of how much history one city holds and how much inspiration it's given to many people. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll write a book there too.
What Goodreads Says
“Paris is a moveable feast,” Ernest Hemingway famously wrote, and in this captivating anthology, American writers share their pleasures, obsessions, and quibbles with the great city and its denizens. Mark Twain celebrates the unbridled energy of the Can-Can. Sylvia Beach recalls the excitement of opening Shakespeare & Company on the Rue Dupuytren. David Sedaris praises Parisians for keeping quiet at the movies. These are just a few of the writers assembled here, and each selection is as surprising and rewarding as the next.
Including essays, book excerpts, letters, articles, and journal entries, this seductive collection captures the long and passionate relationship Americans have had with Paris. Accompanied by an illuminating introduction, Paris in Mind is sure to be a fascinating voyage for literary travelers.